There was worldwide joy When Pakistani officials ­ declared 10 Taliban thugs had been jailed over the attempted murder of brave Malala Yousafzai.

Now,the announcement has been exposed as a myth after it was revealed eight of the men were not convicted and their secret trial was a pathetic sham.

According to UK Mirror, Only two of those accused of being behind the plot to assassinate the ­schoolgirl, who spoke out against Taliban oppression of female education, are serving the 25 years the authorities claimed the whole gang were given.

And insiders revealed one of the men acquitted and freed was said by police to be the murder bid’s mastermind.

A senior security source in Pakistan accused officials of lying over the trial and convictions and claimed the eight were released “quietly, to avoid a media fuss”.

The source added:

“The trial had ­absolutely no credibility as nobody was there to witness it but a public prosecutor, a judge, the army and the accused.This was a tactic to get the media ­pressure away from the Malala case because the whole world wanted ­convictions for the crime.“But the truth is that, whether these acquitted men were involved or not in the Malala shooting, the public has been lied to.Ten men are not behind bars for the crime, as the Pakistani authorities would have us believe. That is a biglie.”

Azaad Khan, the police chief of Swat Valley where Malala was shot in the head on her school bus on October 9, 2012, confirmed only two men, Izharullah and Israr ur Rehman, have been locked up over the cowardly attack.

The Mirror contacted him and said:

“One of my sources from Haripur jail tells me…”But he interrupted to declare: “It’s not a source, it’s a straightforward matter and there is no need to refer to a source. It’s about the two persons isn’t it?”

He was told:

“Sir, 10 persons were convicted.

Mr Khan replied:

“No, two were convicted and eight acquitted.

But last month, Swat court officials insisted all 10 had been given a minimum of 25 years for their part in the Malala plot.

Authorities said they were found guilty of being part of the “planning and execution of the ­assassination attempt”.